"Wave"
Type: Destroyer
In Class: 7 at their height. Currently 1
In Service: first launched 2349, transfered 2577

Ships in class:
Ayanami (in service)
Isonami (destroyed, Reunification War)
Makinami (destroyed, First Succession War)
Onami (destroyed, First Succession War)
Shikinami (destroyed, Reunification War)
Takanami (destroyed, Second Succession War)
Uranami (destroyed, War of Davion Succession)


Mass: 400,000
Sail Integrity: 4
Thrust: 4/6
Fuel: 2000 tons
Structural Integrity: 40
Armor: 320 tons of standard armor (128, 24+4 fwd, 22+4 all others)

Docking Collars: 0
Fighters: 6
Small Craft: 2
Crew: 200
Lifeboats: 20
Escape Pods: 0
Grav Decks: 1 60 meter
Cargo: 4,000

Bay 1: Fighters (6) 2 doors
Bay 2: Cargo (4,000) 1 door
Bay 3: Small Craft (2) 1 door

Weapons:

Forward:
2 NAC 10
4 White Shark

Fore Left / Fore Right
3 NAC 10
4 White Shark

Left Broadside / Right Broadside
3 NL 45
2 White Shark

Aft Left / Aft Right
2 NAC 10

Aft
6 NL 45

Designers Notes: Engine mass was calculated for 5/8 rather than 4/6, making the engines heavier than they technically would be by the rules, but given this is an old ship, I don't mind too much. The KF drive was also calculated at much larger than it was supposed to be.

For those of you who haven't noticed yet, this is essentially a slightly modifed Lola I.


Overview:

What would eventually become the Combine's rather famous Wave class destroyers began their service lives with the Terran Hegemony in the year 2349. These ships, the third batch of Lola I class destroyers constructed by the Hegemony, served admirably as escort and picket ships for the main fleet for the next two hundred years, participating in numerous actions.

[editor's note: of course it would be more accurate to refer to the Lola I as simply the Lola, since that is actually the proper name for it. However, to avoid confusion witht the Lola III, we shall stick with our mildly inaccurate designation]

In the year 2577, with the Reunification war getting into full swing, the Terran Hegemony struck a deal with the Draconis Combine for the sale of seven Lola Is, which by this time were considered rather obsolete. The Combine imediately renovated the old ships, renaming them Wave class destroyers at an official ceremony a year later.

Capabilities:

On the surface very little about the ships has changed. Though the cumbersome old naval lasers were replaced with newer, more compact models (increasing their firing arcs somewhat) and the old PWB autocannons were replaced with locally produced guns, the Wave class destroyer is on its face nearly identical to the original Lola I.

The only significant visible improvement over the Lola I is in the propulsion system. When the Lola I was produced, its propulsion system was one of the most powerful of its time, theoretically capable of even more thrust than the massive engines used on the Monsoon class battleship. However, the engine's compact design was incapable of supporting that much thrust. Any attempt to push the propulsion system above its listed performance maximum of 2.5 Gs would result in severe overheating, stress fractures, and a general all around failure of the engines.

[Editor's Note: There is a persistent legend that the THS Renesco (later the DCS Ayanami) was able to sustain five Gs of thrust for several minutes during the battle of Terra Firma in 2409, which allowed it to escape from Liao pursuers. However, given that the propulsion system isn't even theoretically capable of that much thrust, we have to assume that this story is at least partially a myth. Just another piece of the legend of the Ayanami. However, it is possible and even probable that the Renesco did push itself beyond its listed performance maximum during that battle. In fact, it was a common tactic for more agressive Lola captains, risking engine damage for the sake of gaining a tactical edge.]

By the time the Combine got its hands on the Lola I however, engine technology had advanced a great deal. It simply became a matter of exchanging those components originally vunerable to damage with more robust replacements to increase the useable power of the engines by twenty percent, giving the old ships excellent handling considering their age.

[editor's note: Interestingly enough this was still not enough to tap the full potential of the engines. The propulsion system of the Wave class destroyers still provided only seventy five percent of their theoretical maximum thrust. However, by the time the technology to sqeeze that last bit of power from them was available, the surviving members of the class had all been taken off of combat duty. It wasn't until the Ayanami was recommissioned in 3065 that the Combine was finally able to make the ship the hotrod it was meant to be.]

Deployment:

When the fighting in the Outworlds Alliance formally began in 2581, three Wave class destroyers accompanied the DCMS expeditionary force into the Alliance. Overall, however, their performance was somewhat dismal. The infamous Pitcairn Legion (Davion troops opperating incognito against the Star League and Kurita in the Outworlds Alliance) seemed to single out the Combine warships for special attention early on, striking at each ship mercillessly. Both the Isonami and the Shikinami would become victims of the Pitcairn Legion's fighter ambushes, while the Ayanami survived, though she had to withdraw from the theater for extensive repairs.

After the Reunification War came to a close the surviving Wave class destroyers opperated as rather mundane escort ships, patroling the rim of Combine space until 2650, when they were officially retired from combat duty and declared training vessels. Though the Ayanami and Uranami were briefly reactivated for the Davion War of Succession (which led to the loss of the Uranami), most of the class sat out the next century or so in relative peace, until the start of the First Succesion war. Two of the surviving Wave class destroyers would be destroyed during the first war, with a third falling in the opening days of the Second War. The last ship, the Ayanami, was reported lost to a misjump in 2857, on the eve of the last naval battle of the Second Succession war. She would be a lost ship until she was redicovered by mercenaries adrift in the middle of uncharted space in 3064. She has since returned to service with the DCA after an extensive refit.

Notable Ships:

Without a doubt, the most famous (or infamous) Wave class Destroyer is the Ayanami. Her exploits have become almost legendary among naval historians. In fact, we aren't even sure where the legend begins and where the facts end.

Her legend goes as far back as her years of service with the Terran Hegemony. During that time the Ayanami (then the THS Renesco) fought in nearly every major Hegemony battle of the Age of War, winning battle honors for her performance at Terra Firma and Oriente, where she proved more than a match for any opponent.

[editor's note: Some estimates place the number of kills achieved by the Renesco at the first battle of Terra Firma alone as five destroyers and numerous fighters and dropships. However, our records of the battle can only confirm three Liao destroyers crippled or destroyed specifically by the Renesco along with an indeterminate number of dropships and fighters. Despite that, and despite the severe damage incurred by the Renesco during the fight, this is still a frightening performance.]

During the Reunification War, the Ayanami gained the dubious honor of being the only Wave class destroyer to survive the fighting in the Alliance. During the course of the war, the Ayanami endured numerous fighter attacks and destroyed a converted CCT allegedly manned by members of the Pitcairn Legion.

[editor's note: Again the accounts differ. Some accounts claim that the Ayanami actually faced off against a Davion destroyer, while others claim it was a triad cruiser or even an Iron Duke class battleship. We cannot consider these accounts to be credible however. After all, if a full blown Davion warship had been opperating against the Star League in the area you think somebody would have mentioned it!]

Later during the War of Davion Succession, the Ayanami was credited with single handedly saving the transport Ivan Rogov from Davion Aerofighters in the Royal system, at the same time preventing the loss of the nine regiments of troops the Ivan Rogov carried.

[editor's note: of course this leaves out any reference to the Uranami, which was opperating alongside the Ayanami in screening the Ivan Rogov and in fact was destroyed defending the transport. Oh well, not everybody can be legends.]

It was during the First Succession War that the Ayanami truly shined however. Under the command of the somewhat excentric Hideo Nobunaga the Ayanami racked up an incredible collection of victories. Early on she destroyed the Davion Congress class frigate Diadem, then followed up by jumping into the battle at Cholame, where she managed to throw the Davion rear into chaos for a week, destroying or helping to destroy nearly a dozen ships. After the battle, she hunted down the Davion Command Cruiser Kalinin, finishing her off in the Le Blanc system. After that, she shifted to the Lyran Front, where she frequently squared off against Valkyrie class destroyers, almost always gaining the upper hand and always surviving the encounter.

[editor's note: What can I say? Unlike her earlier service record, the Ayanami's exploits during the First Succession wars were not exagerations. All of this is confirmed. It is worth noting that Hideo Nobunaga's battles are not studdied at Combine naval accademies however, for the simple reason that nobody knows how he and the Ayanami achieved what they did. His victories at times defied reason itself. Some attributed his success to incredible luck or skill that trancends understanding, others to psychic powers (he WAS an old mystic after all). Some frustrated historians have decided that Nobunaga was so successful because nobody told him that he wasn't supposed to be able to take on opponents that outgunned and outmassed his ship and win consistently. Others just put him in the same category as Grayson Carlyle or Kai Allard Liao.]

After the war, Hideo Nobunaga finally stepped down as commander of the Ayanami, turning his ship over to his hand picked successor after a nearly forty year reign. Unfortunatly, it is not known if Mikado Anno could have kept up the Ayanami's reputation. On the eve of her first battle of the Second Succession war, the ship vanished in a misjump.

[editor's note: This is perhaps the final perverse irony of the Ayanami's career. Even if Mikado Anno had proven to be every much the captain that Hideo Nobunaga had, it isn't likely that the Ayanami would have survived the fight at Hesperus II against the LCS Invincible. The ship's misjump no doubt saved it from destruction, and its discovery in 3064 and subsequent return to service means that once again, the Ayanami survived.]